Institutions along with individual investors who hold considerable shares inFortuna Mining Corp. (TSE:FVI) come under pressure; lose 6.4% of holdings value

Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by individual investors in Fortuna Mining indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The top 25 shareholders own 38% of the company
• Recent sales by insiders

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Fortuna Mining Corp. (TSE:FVI), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 53% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While the holdings of individual investors took a hit after last week’s 6.4% price drop, institutions with their 46% holdings also suffered.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Fortuna Mining.

Check out our latest analysis for Fortuna Mining

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Fortuna Mining?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

We can see that Fortuna Mining does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Fortuna Mining's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Fortuna Mining. Van Eck Associates Corporation is currently the company's largest shareholder with 9.5% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 2.9% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.8% by the third-largest shareholder. Furthermore, CEO Jorge Ganoza Durant is the owner of 0.7% of the company's shares.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Fortuna Mining

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Fortuna Mining Corp.. This is a big company, so it is good to see this level of alignment. Insiders own CA$24m worth of shares (at current prices). If you would like to explore the question of insider alignment, you can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 53% of Fortuna Mining. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For example, we've discovered 4 warning signs for Fortuna Mining (1 is concerning!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.